Page 48 of Only a Breath Away

Fraoch said, “She had us deliver a stack of letters and a book tae him, a journal, along with a letter that she said explained everythin’. But I think she means tae meet with him again.”

“Och aye, she is vyin’ tae hae her story told. She is verra predictable. Someday someoneoughttae tell her story for the whole world tae ken, but daena tell her I said so, it would be one more thing tae go tae her head.”

CHAPTER 41 - MAGNUS

Lady Mairead came later in the evening, as I was pacin’ back and forth in front of the house. Colonel Quentin and Beaty came tae check on me near dinner time. I said, “Another full day wasted, every day becomes more dangerous for Kaitlyn.”

Beaty said, “King Magnus, please daena say it, it is giving me the chills tae think it.”

I understood. I nodded and stalked up tae pace by the road.

Lady Mairead was alone.

She wore clothes that looked as if she had come from the early twentieth century. She rose soon after jumpin’ and when I asked where Hammie was she said, “Ye ken, we daena alway hae tae be taegether.”

“Where were ye?”

“I was visitin’ Pablo. And if ye must ken, Hammond went tae the future tae try tae learn what has happened tae the kingdom.”

“He is a good man, he is always concerned about the right things. Ye ought tae take that intae consideration when ye are decidin’ who tae spend yer days with, the man-child Picasso inna worth—”

“Magnus, I dinna come here tae listen tae ye carry on about m’lovers. Tis my business who I bed.”

“Och aye, leave me out of it. I was simply mentionin’ that ye ought tae settle down and think of Hammond as yer—”

She stopped dead in her tracks.

“Ye want me tae settle for Hammond? I will hae ye ken, Magnus, son of mine, Hammond is nae atallin m’station. I am one of the most sought after women in the history of the world and I am the mother of a king. Ye want me tae settle for Hammond! Och, he is able tae keep me warm in bed, tis enough. He is lucky tae be invited. Now wheesht and tell me about the Bridge. Did Hayley and Fraoch steal it?”

“Aye, they hae stolen it.” I opened the door for her and followed her intae the living room. Fraoch brought the Bridge down from the top shelf of the bookcase where it had been out of the reach of the bairns.

Fraoch placed it in front of me. “Ye should try, Og Maggy.”

I put m’hand on the lid. It clicked open.

Quentin said, “All that time trying to figure out how to open it and that’s what did it?”

Chef Zach said, “It’s Donnan’s fucking paternity test.”

We all stared down intae it.

It was verra like the vessels, fascinating, but twas impossible tae understand how it was tae be used. Lady Mairead said, “This is exactly what I hae seen before. Donnan was verra protective of it.”

Quentin said, “So it’s called the Bridge, will it bridge between two times or is it just a bridge like a command central?”

Hayley said, “Whoa, what if it’s both?”

Lady Mairead said, “I daena ken about the two times, because never before in the history of time has there been a split. I daena ken what is happening but someone is responsible.”

I said, “Aye, we need tae stop whoever is doin’ this.”

Lady Mairead pulled three small books from her messenger bag, and set them in a stack on the table and flipped through the top one. I glimpsed her familiar handwritin’; twas orderly and small and filled the pages from side tae side, unlike Kaitlyn’s which was large and full of flourishes, with a great deal of space around it.

She came tae a page and pulled from it a piece of oft-folded paper that looked verra old. She uncreased it, spreadin’ it upon the coffee-table. She said, “I haena seen the Bridge since Donnan was alive, and I was only able tae see it over his shoulder when he needed tae set a vessel remotely tae turn it on, so he could find it.”

While she talked, my eyes were drawn tae the bottom book of her stack. “This is the book from Johnne Cambell that Kaitlyn gave ye…?”

She pulled the book away from me. “Aye, as she ought, twas nae her’s tae keep.”

---